Abstract

Behaviour management represents a complex dimension of the teaching profession, especially in contexts of high social vulnerability. This instrumental case study qualitatively analysed the experiences of four teachers from a technical-professional high school in Santiago, Chile, focusing on how they construct and sustain behaviour management in everyday classroom work. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings foreground a central tension in which reactive management predominates over preventive strategies, shaping how teachers sustain pedagogical continuity under recurrent disruption. Teachers describe this work as a reflective construction negotiated between routines and adaptation to contingencies, supported by bonds of trust with students and informal peer collaboration within an institutional structure perceived as fragmented. These insights can inform teacher education by strengthening practice-oriented preparation for behaviour management and can support the refinement of educational coexistence policies in context-sensitive ways.